Memories...
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
REFLECTIONS ABOUT RAG 2005.......wow..i have so many things i want to say about Rag, and i dunno where i should begin..All through the past few months, it was personally very very hard for me to juggle between O Week and Rag..A lot of times i felt very bad when i m enjoying myself at O Week while at the back of my mind, i knew that there were a lot of people like Jianwu, Keyou, Fiona, Jasmine, Alvin, Reuben, Lionel, Rachael, Gerri, Yuimin, Benedict who were suffering at the Rag house. So i try my best to go down and help out when O Week debriefing ends, but the problem is that most of the debriefings ended very late. And by the time i reach the House, it was oredi v late or i was dead tired, or i had to help my other O Week com members with the next day's stuff. I fell sick on Flag Day when i had a high fever, when everything just took its toll on me.And to be frank, throughout the past month when i started going down regularly for Rag, there was always an internal struggle within myself. I was always asking myself whether i was a real Ragger, becoz the truth is that i am not a dancer, and i am not a very good tech person, nor am I a full-time Ragger due to O Week commitments. A lot of times i was only down there to talk cock with the people there, entertain them, sometimes buying supper, keep the real techies company...But when it came to the last 24 hours of Rag, my god, everything, all the hard work, was worth it. It was tough working throughout the night to meet all the deadlines and till todae, i still found it hard to believe that i pushed the JING SHAN (GOLDEN MOUNTAIN) all the way from the Raghouse to SRC. And then staying on to help push the float in the actual performance..My god, Jianwu was right. All those months of preparations for just 10 minutes of presentation may seem stupid to others, but they will stay with Raggers for the rest of their lives. I cant believe the atmosphere there and then realli...and being a part of it was really a wonderful wonderful feeling. Those 10 minutes make everything, everything worthwhile...the blood, sweat, mosquito bites, and tears.You always hear the term "Be Raggerfied" around, but to me, that term really meant something on Rag day itself. I remembered that while Arts was awaiting its turn to push our float in to present, everyone took a picture together, and Jianwu wanted us to shout "Be Raggerfied!!", which we did. It was at that moment, that moment when i opened my mouth to shout that phrase, when i truly realized that yes, i am god damned Raggerfied as well, and i am bloody proud to be a Ragger. It was on Rag day itself, when i finally finally understand why every year people come back to be Raggers. You look at all the faculties and halls' dancers, techies, and cheerleaders..Rag means so much to these people, and it was touching, really really touching.You have to do Rag to truly understand what it really means. Just coming down for 1 or 2 times wont work. At the end of the day, Rag is about hard work. One needs to come down for an extended period to really really understand Rag.After our presentation, Keyou went to one corner and cried. Four years he told me, four years of Rag, and this is going to be his last. He couldnt stop crying, and after working with him for the past month and getting to know him much better, i have absolute respect for this man. For goodness sake, he is going on to year 4, he could have just went on an internship or get a job, forget about Rag and let it suffer, but he chose to stay on, and guide it through. I used to hear some negative stuff said about him, but after working with him in this Rag, i totally salute this man really. Rag means so much to him..and i have always admire people with a lot of passion for their dreams.You see Arts Club seniors and oldies such as Jianghao, Ridz, Sean, Haoran, Big Ben and so many others coming down to help out before Rag day...it was fantastic really.i cant thank people like Jianwu, Jasmine, and Keyou enough for giving me the chance to be a Ragger, and to experience the highs and lows of Rag. It has made my FOP experience this year a much much much more complete one than last year, and the truth is that u cannot understand FOP totally until you have been thru Rag, really. At least thats what i feel.I am oredi beginning to formulate plans for Rag for next year oredi. Science fac has shown that the stranglehold by Bizad can be broken, and if they can win, why not Arts. In fact, Arts fac won in 2002 if i m not wrong..Big Ben, Jianghao, and Ridz were wearing their Championship winning year T-shirt when they came down on Rag day.Jose Mourinho once said that to be champions, you have to first get the players to believe in themselves. If we do not convincingly believe that we can be champions, we will never win.Arts RAG will rise again. I am determined to make it happen.
